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Saturday, February 28, 2015

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 315

Dynamic Duo: Book 2

Picture Book: Ivan: The Remarkable True
Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla

Author:
Katherine Applegate

Illustrator: G.
Brian Karas

Summary:
The first 7 pages of this picture book are about Ivan’s idyllic life with his
gorilla family in Central Africa. Then a poacher takes Ivan and another baby
gorilla and transports them inside a small crate to Tacoma, Washington where an
owner of a shopping mall had placed an order for them “like a couple of pizzas.”
They were named Burma and Ivan after a Name the Baby Gorillas Contest. Sadly, soon
after their arrival Burma died, and Ivan was alone. For his first three years in
America, Ivan lived in a human home and was cuddled and played with by humans. Eventually he was placed in a cage in the mall
where he grew into a silverback gorilla. He had a TV and a few toys, but mostly
he watched the people through a window. Shoppers began to react negatively to
Ivan’s lonely life, but it wasn’t until he had lived in his cage for 27 years
that he was gently moved to Zoo Atlanta where scientists helped him adapt to a
more jungle-like lifestyle. There are a few photographs of the gorillas in the
back of the book along with some more facts and even a painting by Ivan.

Hanna’s Comments: This second PBT Dynamic Duo offering about rescued animals is
quite different than those offered yesterday. Because this story is beautifully
animated and reads less like a documentary and more like a children’s story,
the realities of Ivan’s life are not as harsh as my summary might suggest. Do
consider the sensitivities of your young audiences though when choosing
non-fiction stories or videos about animals that are mistreated. I could have featured many more
picture books like these some of which involve cross-species relationships that
fascinate scientists. Here are a few others:

Terra & Bella: The
Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends

Suryia & Rosco: The
True Story of an Unlikely Friendship

Kate & Pippin: An
Unlikely Love Story

Knut: How One Little Polar
Bear Captivated the World

Publisher & Date of Publication: Clarion Books, 2014

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

# of Pages:
40

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: Tablet, The back of this book explains that you
can access a slideshow about Ivan at www.ZooAtlanta.org.

Idea(s) for Application: Use any of these picture books about animals when
talking about God’s creative design of various species and how humans have been
encouraged to be their caretakers. OR Use these books to speak about the
various ways love can be demonstrated, even across species.

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